Battle Scars
by Alicia and Darkrai
Summary: A tale of the hidden horrors of the Pokémon battles - and how a certain cheater's game retaliated. Rated T for some violence and horror. A CreepyPasta.


**Hi! This is Jewlz with my first Pokemon Creepypasta! I do not own Pokemon, nor am I affiliated with it. I wrote this a year ago and was too lazy to edit, so if there are mistakes, please point them out and I'll correct them. Enjoy!**

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I love Pokemon. Even now, after so much has happened, I still love it. Every morning when I woke up, I would whip out my DS and capture, battle, train, and breed for hours at a time. My favourite games were Diamond and Soulsilver, and I would alternate between playing them all the time. On Diamond, I called myself Ash and had a Pikachu as my partner, and on Soulsilver I was Jewel and had a Typhlosion named Flame. I usually played honestly, but I took advantage of the fact that I could trade Pokemon between the two versions using my little sister's DS. However, many of my friends cheated with action replay and finally tempted me to use some cheats. Diamond became my cheat version, since Soulsilver was more precious to me. I never wanted something bad to happen to it, because I had all 16 badges, beat the Elite 4 numerous times, and Red twice. Plus, I had brought, through hard work and many rematches with Gym Leaders, my first and favourite Pokemon, Flame, to level 100. Together with Mewtwo, whose high level was also the result of training; Magcargo, who my hacking friend had raised for me to level X; Deoxys, who was also the result of hacks; GLURAK the Charizard, who came from a German Pokemon version; and my shiny Rayquaza, who was brought to me by my favourite hacker; we were unstoppable and undefeatable!

Then, one spring break, one of my friends let me borrow her AR which was already loaded with tons of cheats, like walking through walls and getting 999 Master Balls. I instantly used them on Diamond and captured Darkrai and Shaymin without the events. But when I spotted 493 Master balls in the regular ITEMS pocket and started encountering nothing but low-level wild Arceus' in tall grass, I realized that I could get  
any Pokemon I wanted. I used the modifier and shiny cheats more than any others and soon, with the help of my infinite rare candies, I had more than fifty powerful level 100's, along with my Pikachu, Buneary, and my starter, Torterra. Finally, I decided to trade them all to Soulsilver. That, however, was a big mistake.

I wanted to test out all my new Pokemon, so I took on all of the Gym leaders that I had been 'storing' in the Fighting Dojo for when I wanted a good battle, and discovered that they all were better than my original team. I left Flame in the PC box for days on end so I could use my other new Pokemon. I had been a little bit reluctant to put Flame away, since she was always in my team and had maxed-out friendship with me, but I decided it was fine.

One morning, I loaded up the game as usual, but a message appeared on the 'SELECT FILE' screen that said, "The saved data has been corrupted." That was very odd, because I had never used cheats once on the game in fear of the file being deleted. I pressed 'A' and read the rest of the message. "If anything out of the ordinary occurs, turn off the power right away and pray that it is not too late."

Huh? It's not supposed to say that, is it? The message creeped me out, but I figured that my sister had played with the game and done something silly, or maybe the level 100s had messed it up. I decided not to pay too much attention to it and started the game. Right away I knew something was wrong. Everything was dark as if it was nighttime, but it was 11:43 in the morning. Plus, the streetlights and lights from the houses that usually lit up when it was dark weren't on. My character wandered around for a bit, then I decided to turn around and talk to my Pokemon, who was a Lucario that I had traded from Diamond. However, the message was different than what was programmed. "Lucario looks scared. It is tugging on your sleeve and whimpering."

Okay, something was definitely wrong. I wanted to obey the warning message and shut off the power, but something made me want to keep playing. I checked my party Pokemon and saw that they were all knocked out and Frozen at the same time. I felt a little bit scared now but, being a good trainer, I walked into a Pokemon Center to heal them. I gave my Pokemon to Nurse Joy, but her dialogue was also warped. "Oh, your Pokemon... Something is wrong with them. They have suffered through too many battles. Please, come again soon!"

I tried healing them again, but she repeated that horrid phrase over and over again, and my Pokemon were still in the glitched state. I finally decided that if the nurse couldn't do the job right, the good 'ol PC could heal them by putting them into the box and taking them out again. But when I checked the box, I was horrified. There were no Pokemon stored, but instead there were eggs. Lots of them, filling up the spaces where my hard-earned Pokemon were. I tapped one of them to get a summary of it. Instead of saying 'EGG', it said, 'Bad Egg', and the description said, "It looks as if it will take a long time to hatch." Every egg was the same and, when I looked into all of the other boxes, they were all Bad Eggs too. All of my legendaries, Grass types, Poison types, and even the level 1 Eevees that I had bred and hatched. Then I looked at my party Pokemon, and to my shock, they too had become Bad Eggs. Knowing the glitch procedures, I attempted to shut off the power. However, the image of egg upon egg stayed on the screen. I tried numerous times to turn off the system, and even popped the game cart out, but to no avail. Feeling depressed, I browsed through the eggs and boxes, trying to find at least one Pokemon still alive. And then, there she was. Sitting in the level 100 box, surrounded by Bad Eggs, was Flame. I breathed a sigh of relief and, switching my Bad Eggs in my party to her alone, I exited the box. But I wasn't in the Pokemon Center anymore. I was in a black void with just my character showing. I began panicking again, trying to find a way out, when a text box appeared, saying, "... ... ... ..."

I pressed 'A'.

"... Don't you love me?"

"I thought we were going to be friends forever..."

An image faded in and I felt a lump rise in my throat. It was an image of Flame, but not the usual picture of her roaring, ready to battle. Her head was bowed and she was facing forward. There were red streaks down her cheeks and I felt sick as I realized it was blood, that she was crying blood. Her entire body was covered in scars and her cream-coloured belly fur was stained red. The text box popped up again, and the image of darkness behind it and Flame began to spin.

"I did my best for you."

"You earned me through hard work."

"But you hurt me."

"You hurt all of us."

"Do you still love me?"

"Do I mean anything to you?"

A Yes/No option popped up. I didn't know what to do. I knew that even if my little sister did hack the game, she would have had to be really skilled at spriting, which I knew she wasn't, and she would have had to have a very good hacking program, which I knew she didn't. And even Action Replay couldn't do all this. Then the only option would be...

No! Flame couldn't have done this! This is just a game! A bunch of pixels couldn't do this! But I knew that there was definitely something special about Flame, just as I had thought when I first started the game. Unlike other people who could beat it in a week, I had spent a lot of effort getting all of my Pokemon to like me, and Flame was always the one I liked most. Even if she was bloody and covered in battle scars. So I selected, 'Yes.'

The screen blacked out, and at first I thought the DS had shut off. But in another moment, the screen showed Jewel in a flower field, like in Floaroma Town, except that this one was much bigger. I moved my sprite to the left and I saw that Flame was following me. I turned around to talk to her, and the text box said, "Flame is overjoyed to be alone with Jewel! It is proudly displaying its Shiny Leaf Crown!"

I sighed in relief and checked her summary and was surprised to see that she was in a different pose. Her eyes were pink instead of red and she was wearing her Shiny Leaf Crown on her head. The scars and blood was gone and her fur looked as if she had been washed very well then brushed. And she was smiling.

I turned the page in the description to look at the Trainer Memo. This, too, was different. It said, "Happy Nature. Had a fateful encounter at level 5. Met in New Bark Town. Likes to be with Jewel." I also discovered that in my party, I had Deoxys, Glurak, Magcargo, Mewtwo, and Rayquaza, but none of them had changed. Wanting to be with Mewtwo as well, I switched it with Flame. Or at least, I tried to, because then a message popped up, saying, "You do want to be with me, right? You can be only with me!" So now, while I had the rest of my team, I couldn't use them at all. I couldn't even switch them with Flame! So I walked around in the flower field, trying to figure out what to do next, when I spotted a door. That's right, there was a door, in the middle of a flower field. So of course, I just walked through it. And we were suddenly in a Pokemon Center.

Naturally, I checked the PC Box. However, the only option was 'Move Items', but I chose it anyways. I was incredibly surprised that all of the boxes were completely filled with Bad Eggs, and there was no way I was going to put one of those into my party, so I just logged out. I left the Pokemon Center and discovered that we were back in Goldenrod. I felt like a battle, so I left the city to the route below. I had already planned a rematch with one of the picnickers, and, when I found the right one, I talked to him and the battle began. Flame's back sprite was different, though. Instead of facing the enemy, she was looking at me. It felt like she was staring into my soul. I tried to ignore it and chose her Flamethrower attack. Now a message popped up, but it didn't say 'Flame used Flamethrower!' like it should have. It read, "Flame doesn't want to battle!"

I stared. "She doesn't want to battle?!" I cried out loud. "But... She can't do that! I'm her trainer! She has to battle!"

As if in response, a new message said, "Flame doesn't like battles. What is the point?"

I thought about that. What WAS the point of battling? You just force these obedient, sweet creatures to fight each other until one gets knocked out? Just for your own amusement? It didn't seem right. But why was the game that revolved around battling telling me that it was pointless?

Another message appeared, saying, "Flame fled from the battle."

"But... but..." I stuttered, "You can't flee from a trainer battle!" Obviously, she could, because the regular walking screen appeared again. I felt angry now. If I couldn't switch my Pokemon and Flame didn't fight, that meant I could never battle again! And that meant that the game was pointless! "But at least I can still capture Pokemon," I said. "I have Master balls, so I don't have to fight."

Within no time of running in tall grass, I found a wild Drowsee. But I wish I didn't. The Pokemon's feet were bloody looking and covered in scratches. Half of its snout was torn off and blood surrounded it. Its eyes looked tired and it was crying blood, just like Flame had. The rest of its body was torn and one arm was missing, the other had no flesh and was just a skeleton. I felt sick and horrified. Its health bar showed that it had very little Hit Points left and it was Burned. It took me a while to understand that this Pokemon was the victim of trainers and other wild Pokemon that had fought against it. It was so depressed looking, I fled right away. I, once again, wanted to turn the DS off and end this miserable game, but it wouldn't turn off. A message appeared that said, "I want you to see what happens to these poor creatures that are fought for the cruel amusement of trainers. I want you to understand."

I freaked out and looked again at all of my Pokemon. Besides Flame, all were bloody and torn with pieces of flesh dangling off their bodies and bones protruding. Their cries sounded weak and ragged, as if they had been screaming for a long time. A message appeared. It said, "You did this. This is your fault." I couldn't take it anymore. I dropped the DS and ran to the bathroom, vomiting into the toilet. When I wiped my mouth and went back to my DS, I quickly exited the Pokemon screen so I wouldn't have to look at them anymore. Lavender Town music started playing and I shivered, knowing that most of the time when that music played, a horrible glitch appeared and killed all your Pokemon or something like that. But we were actually in Lavender Town. How we got there, I have no clue. Maybe Rayquaza or Glurak flew us there. A scene began to play out so I had no more control over my character. All I could do was press 'A' occasionally and watch.

Jewel (that's what I'll call my character sprite) was walking into a Pokemon Center and went to Nurse Joy to heal the Pokemon. Nurse Joy paused then said, "I'm afraid your Pokemon have been badly injured. Deoxys is Paralyzed for life. Rayquaza will never Fly again. Mewtwo has suffered terrible Burns and it will take a month to heal. Magcargo and Glurak..."

I anxiously awaited what Nurse Joy would say. Were they alright?

Finally, Joy continued, "They both won't make it." My jaw dropped to the ground.

"What?!" I yelled at the DS. "This wasn't supposed to happen! This is a kid's game! They can't die!"

Then, Professor Oak walked in. "Jewel, it seems as if I have made a terrible mistake," he said. "By creating the Pokedex, I have prompted people who owned Pokemon to battle with them. I did not realize that this sort of damage would be caused."

Nurse Joy began talking. "Would you like to bury your MAGCARGO and GLURAK here in Lavender Town?" A Yes/No option popped up, and I grimly chose 'Yes'.

The screen faded into a scene of Jewel and Flame standing in the House of Memories in front of two gravestones. "Oh, God, no..." I gasped and, with trembling fingers, pressed, 'A' in front of one of the gravestones. A text box appeared.

"Here lies MAGCARGO, a great friend, a lifelong partner.  
She will be greatly missed by all.  
2009-2012  
R.I.P.

The other gravestone was slightly different. It said:  
This is the grave of GLURAK, a German Pokemon at heart.  
His death will be a sad memory for years to come.  
2007-2012  
R.I.P.

Even though they were a bunch of pixels, I still felt choked up. Neither had been mine in the beginning, they were both traded from my cheat-loving friend, Lukas. Suddenly, I realized that Deoxys and Rayquaza, who had also suffered such terrible injuries that they would never heal, had also been brought to life by cheats, while Mewtwo, who I had captured and raised without any cheats, would heal in a month. And Flame... Well, she was fine now. Maybe this was how things were supposed to be. Maybe things worked out for the better.

Suddenly, a SAVE option popped up. If I chose not to save, I might be able to prevent this from happening and things would go back to normal. Or maybe the events would replay themselves over and over for all eternity. With no regrets, I chose Yes.

As I discovered later, there were still plenty of things I could do without battling. I competed in the Pokeathlon and beat all of the high scores. The Bad Eggs cleared up so I could take a Pokemon into the Pokewalker and take them for a walk. And after a month, Mewtwo was healed and I brought her out from the Pokemon Center. Flame finally let me switch to my other Pokemon, but only Mewtwo. I used the Master balls that I had previously traded from Diamond to capture Pokemon without fighting them. Sure, they were still bloody and ragged, but I discovered that by giving them to Nurse Joy, she tells you how bad they are and how long, if ever, it will take them to heal. After that, you either get them back, wait a week or month for them to heal, or bury them in the House of Memories. Now I have fourteen buried there, 10 awaiting recovery, and fifty-seven that have been saved. Somehow, this version of playing the game seems better. I never liked the concept of hurting them.

I gave the Action Replay back to my friend, saying I wouldn't need it anymore. Somehow, similar events had occurred on my Diamond version game, but this time, I welcomed them. I was left with Pikachu, Buneary, and Oak the Torterra, as well as a new beginning. I started a new club called 'NO FIGHTS', and persuaded everybody that connected with me to join it. Everybody, that is, except for Lukas. He loves battling and refuses to give it up. But he'll see, soon enough...


End file.
